Trying to figure out who's got the best muscle car is kind of like trying to herd cats or declaring which color is the best looking. Whatever scheme you use, there are bound to be losers and disagreements; nevertheless, we do these kinds of things because we have a competitive nature. In the hot rodding universe, there are well-established ways of measuring cars, all of them fun. On the performance side, we have racing of all descriptions, including drag racing, autocrossing, vintage road racing, and even our own AMSOIL Engine Masters Challenge. On the aesthetic side, we have car shows like Goodguys Street Machine of the Year and the Detroit Autorama. These two halves of the same coin seem so opposite of each other that you'd think they are mutually exclusive, but we beg to differ. What if we could establish some middle ground on which both looks and performance are on equal footing, and then throw in some basic requirements to ensure that these top cars remain relevant to our active street-biased lifestyle?

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That's what we've created with Popular Hot Rodding's annual Muscle Car of the Year (MCOTY) competition. Or at least we hope so. If we select the right performance criteria, invite the right cars, and set the minimum requirements for street equipment in the right ballpark, we have a really good chance of capturing the essence of what it means to build and drive the ultimate Pro Touring street machine. MCOTY isn't about finding the quickest car, the hardest cornering machine, or the trickiest piece of fabrication—while that's certainly important stuff, it's really about finding the car or cars that push all of your hot buttons.

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Like we said, this endeavor is fun—but that doesn't mean it's easy. At last year's inaugural MCOTY, we set up the tests—drag race, speed-stop, and autocross—with what we thought was equal scoring weight. The top three laps in each of the three tests were averaged, then added together to get an aggregate lap time for each car. The shortest (numerically lowest) score was the winner. Unfortunately, due to the fact that a quarter-mile run is so short in duration, the scoring system automatically gives a greater weight to the autocross laps, which are more than three times as long on the stopwatch as a drag pass. Last year's competition therefore resulted in a winner that was heavily weighted toward cornering ability and not raw power. That was pointed out emphatically by some readers, so this year we've given the drag portion of our regime more weight by counting the average of the best three drag passes three times in the aggregate final score. It works out like this: shaving a second off your average quarter-mile e.t. is now equivalent to shaving 3 seconds off your autocross average. We don't know if that's the perfect solution, but it's in the right ballpark. Those who shed tears over last year's scoring will be happy to know that this year's overall winner, Jeff Schwartz, had the quickest car in the drag portion of our testing.

When this issue hits the street, we'll no doubt get email saying we couldn't possibly have tested the best cars out there. We made our level-best effort to find as many of the right kind of cars as we could, and that included a major casting call in our biggest-selling, most widely read issue of the year (May 2013). We also followed this up with regular blogs on the PHR website and numerous posts on Facebook. Moreover, we approached many cars at the Goodguys events we attended, asking those with the better performing machines to consider coming. In the end, we cast a wide net, and captured some really great cars, some built by pros, some built at home by hobbyists, some driven by veteran hot shoes, and others by enthusiastic beginners. There may be other cars out there worthy of the honor, but they did not step forward to be counted. Like the saying goes, put up or shut up. Our 14 MCOTY invi1tees put it all on the line for all to see, some in the face of long odds, and we would like to thank them for taking the time to be at our test venue. If your favorite kind of car isn't here (cough, Ford), we suggest that instead of complaining, you think about applying next year, or putting the word out to car owners who fit the bill.

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The thing that had perhaps the most profound effect on the performance of the cars at MCOTY was our criteria that all cars needed to be street legal, and look the part. We checked insurance, registration, headlights, interior, and tires—which needed to have a treadwear rating of 180 or higher. An "almost race car" might be quicker, but what would be the point if you couldn't drive it on the street—or worse, you didn't want to drive it on the street because it's too inconvenient, uncomfortable, or ill-mannered? We also wanted cars that could score high points for sex appeal, so our screening process for all invitees had a "beauty" component. That part was a little tricky as it's really subjective, but surprisingly there was little disagreement among the staff during the selection process, so we're feeling pretty good about our choices.

Win or lose, all of our competitors and their teams had a great time the day of our competition. After arriving at National Trail Raceway at 7 a.m. and getting teched in, cars eagerly hit the staging lanes for the quarter-mile drag test. Jeff Schwartz's twin-turbo 1981 Trans Am quickly emerged as the fastest, slithering and swooshing its way to trap speeds in excess of 130 mph—all on street-legal 19-inch radial tires. Once everybody got a maximum of 10 runs in (with a minimum of three required), the course was modified to an eighth-mile for the second set of tests: the Speed-Stop challenge. Like a drag race, it's a race to the finish line—only you've got to stop right at the finish line without sliding out the back of the coned-off stop box! Here, Travis Hartwell's 1977 Trans Am beat all comers, averaging 8.985 seconds—an e.t. most readers would love to hit without having to stop at the eighth-mile!

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After a relaxing hour-long catered lunch in one of National Trail's air-conditioned suites, drivers queued up for the autocross, a high-speed jewel that was set up in the pit area by the corner-carving speed demons from the American Street Car Series. These are the same guys who bring you fun Pro Touring events like Run Thru The Hills and Run To The Coast. Our 14 competitors made so many laps on the autocross, it was like kids taking over the candy aisle at Wal-Mart. When the two hours allotted for the autocross was up, all 14 cars were still running strong, but most of the drivers were used up—it was almost too much fun for one day! In the autocross portion, Danny Popp put his 1972 Corvette in the winner's circle to pick up the Autocross trophy, but it was not enough to garner the overall victory, which went to Jeff Schwartz and his turbo LS-powered 1981 Trans Am.

If you've got a car that deserves recognition in PHR's Muscle Car of the Year, we would love to hear about it. We will be announcing the 2014 MCOTY details next spring, so keep an eye out for it. Comments or suggestions about this year's MCOTY should be sent to john.hunkins@sorc.com (all email will be assumed suitable for publication). Also, check out PopularHotRoddding.comfor the video coverage of this year's MCOTY—it's a blast! In the meantime, here are the competitors for the 2013 Muscle Car of the Year in the order of their overall finishing positions from First to Fourteenth.

Considering that this four-digit horsepower 1981 Turbo Trans Am wasn't even set up with quarter-mile, or even autocross work, in mind when we invited it to the Muscle Car of the Year competition, it sure did an excellent job in all three events. That statement is per Jeff Schwartz's comment to us that the TA was still geared and sprung for its standing-mile top-speed configuration, which by his calculations should be right at 200 mph. So as great as it performed all-around at MCOTY, Schwartz assures us it could do even better with a more tailored setup.

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That's a very cool thing to consider, but we're glad it came out as-is since it really speaks to the heart of what we want in a MCOTY winner: a car that isn't specialized for any event, but still does very well at all challenges. In its winning configuration, the Turbo TA easily returned the lowest e.t. on the quarter-mile dragstrip despite very little traction and weight transfer, and finished competitively in both the Speed-Stop and Autocross.

The secret to the speed is a Schwartz-built twin-turbo LS9 that churns out 1,042 hp and 900 lb-ft of torque when set on kill, and the secret to the handling is, of course, one of Schwartz's own G-Machine chassis. The TA was designed from the get-go to be the flagship performance car in Schwartz's stable to show off the capability of not only the chassis, but everything his shop can do to create a top-notch Pro Touring machine. It's not a stripped-down track animal; this TA was built as a comfortable long-distance driving car with A/C and a plush interior. Just one more thing this car does well. On a more personal note, this build was also a chance for Schwartz to create his dream car that he could use to attend events regularly and build a good reputation for his company while checking off some stuff from his bucket list. It's hard to beat that advertising campaign.

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With so much power on tap, we would have loved to see the TA deep into the single digits, but as wide as the 345-series rear tires are, thin sidewalls coupled with stiff rear springs meant Schwartz had to be tactical on the throttle and was still traction limited to the 11s all day. The sound and fury of the turbos spooling the LS9 down the track was phenomenal though, giving a taste of what it could do if Schwartz ever decided to go for quarter-mile glory. Maybe someday, but specialization isn't what this car was ever supposed to be about. It's an all-around high-performance machine with extremely high limits on every testable front; quarter-mile, braking, handling, and even top speed, and all while remaining a very pleasant and temperate street car. That's the very definition of the ultimate muscle car and is why Schwartz and his Turbo TA are the winners of PHR's 2013 Muscle Car of the Year competition.

On the list of competitors we expected a strong showing from, Danny Popp's name was right at the top. An ASE-certified Master Technician and a GM-certified Corvette Repair Specialist at McCluskey Chevrolet, with a side specialty in track prepping Corvettes, Popp is also known to show up at racetracks and decimate the competition, typically in a car that has much less invested than the big boys who he's lapping. An accomplished amateur racer on the autocross and road course, Popp already had a reputation brewing, but he really popped up on a lot of readers when he walked away from the pack at the 2011 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI) in his not-all-that-modified 2006 Z06.

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As cool as that Corvette is, it's his 1972 plastic fantastic that really caught our attention on the autocross at last year's Columbus Goodguys. C3s already have the most curvaceous shape of any generation of Vette, but Popp's has the added width of perfectly executed L88 fender flares that make us wish they'd been standard equipment. Seriously, we haven't been able look at another C3 without thinking it would look better with them.

Aggressive style is great, but Popp had a more practical reason for the flares: more tire! This 1972 has actually been in Popp's family for the past 40 years, bought by Popp's pop when he was only 3 years old, so he's literally known it his whole gearhead life. At 16, Popp started attending autocross events with his dad and was tossed the keys to the family Vette to learn how to wheel it through the cones. He obviously had a good time, because since that day Popp has been addicted to high-performance driving. To date, Popp and the C3 have claimed seven national autocross championships. Though it did spend most of the last 10 years in storage, Popp has brought the family Vette back out to remind everyone how potent a well dialed-in C3 can be. Despite its simplicity compared to some of the competition, Popp nearly walked away with the MCOTY title this year.

Show-only cars are no fun. Just ask Larry Woo, the owner of this gorgeous 1968 Camaro; he had to learn that lesson the hard way. As a specialist in restoring vintage exotics, Woo knows how to build beautiful machines and the Camaro began life as another styling exercise for him. As of August 2012, it was a beautifully finished car, or so Woo thought. After attending a local autocross event he discovered that not only was driving his vintage creation a ton of fun, but also that he was pretty good at it. So, as of winter 2012, the high-dollar Camaro was back in Woo's shop to begin its evolution into an autocross machine.

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Of course that doesn't mean that it devolved into something less road worthy; Woo couldn't allow the Camaro to be subject to that indignity. So while you'll now find Recaro race seats with Simpson five-point harnesses attached to a custom four-point rollbar, those seats are covered in a ruddy leather to match the rest of the custom upholstered interior. And the dashpad may still be wrapped in black alligator skin, but there's a RacePak digital display in place of the cluster, and a Sparco steering wheel with a quick disconnect at the end of the column. Merging class and function is always tasteful in our book.

According to some reports, Woo has also gone through at least three different sets of wheels to get the right look, all while stuffing as much tire under the Camaro as possible. Thanks to a modified Detroit Speed & Engineering (DSE) subframe and some very careful wheel backspace measuring, Woo has managed to squeeze 315s under the unmodified fenders. The driveline needed no such updating since it was already sporting a 590hp Magnuson-supercharged LS built by Lingenfelter.

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The ex-show car had a strong showing at MCOTY with Third, Second, and Fourth Place finishes in the Quarter-Mile, Speed-Stop, and Autocross respectively. Not bad for a car finished only a few months previous. Woo had a huge smile every time we saw him, so we feel comfortable in saying that the Camaro will likely continue to evolve as he gets more and more seat time with it.

If Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick had been an autocrosser and road racer instead of a drag racer, this would've been his ride. Actually, Damion Campbell's 1963 LeMans does share a little bit of Beswick DNA; the VFN fiberglass front clip is the same style used on Beswick's Tameless Tiger drag car. We're sure this radical Pontiac would get his blessing.

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When Campbell first started getting interested in autocross, something like the LeMans wasn't even on his radar. He initially set out looking at Z06 Corvettes since they require very little work to be effective on big and little tracks. But Campbell has been building street hot rods for many years and the idea of making a late-model his track toy just didn't sit as well with him. While on the search for what would be the foundation of his build, this 1963 LeMans popped up in Indiana. (If the car looks familiar, it's because we saw it at the Goodguys Autocross when it was previously owned by Mike King.) Campbell loved the stock car racer look, so he bought it with the intent of making it more of a streetable car. After some changes to chassis and suspension, Campbell dropped in a new engine and trans more suited to his intentions for the LeMans, then set about handling the bodywork, which included changing the paint from matte black to a light metallic green. We know that was no small task either; while the VFN front clip may be available, not much else is, so four different quarter-panels were required to repair the rot and damage.

The chassis seems to have been worked, since the LeMans was a strong contender in all events at MCOTY, ending up with a Fourth Place finish overall. Actually, with a Third Place finish in the autocross against cars built from the get-go with handling in mind, we'd say Campbell's chassis tweaks were extremely effective. Still look like it's too much of a race car to you? Looks can be deceiving. Campbell actually drives the LeMans daily and has even taken a few road trips in it.

Going through the list of makes and models that were invited to the 2013 MCOTY, the one that truly stands out as odd is Kevin Wesley's 1970 Satellite. Not only because it's one of the few Mopars involved in autocross, but it's also a big B-Body, and on top of that it's a freakin' four-door! There's no way that's a good contender, right?

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Wrong. Quickly gaining notoriety as the "Autocross Taxi," Wesley's Satellite is an amazingly well sorted performer that bested many more typical two-door muscle cars in all three events. All those raised eyebrows were exactly what Wesley wanted from the beginning.

The goal was to build a fun car that was inexpensive, reliable, and truly family friendly, but without giving up cornering capability. The obvious answer for three of those four criteria was a crew cab of some sort, but could one be made to handle? Well, if you're clever and pick a platform that has solid support for its two-door brethren your odds are pretty good. Again, a Mopar would not have been our first thought since they are often neglected by the aftermarket performance suspension world, but the B-Body actually has a good option in the form of Hotchkis' Total Vehicle System (TVS) that provides a tuned and balanced system that is plug-and-play. "It's all bolt-on, zero fabrication was required. I have no fab skills, so it had to be bolt-on," Wesley told us.

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Bolt-on is quick and easy, and to that point the entire project was put together in six weeks total. The secret to that unbelievably short time line was not only keeping it simple, but starting with a good car and skipping the paint and body. "I really hate washing and waxing my cars, so a vinyl wrap really fits my personality," Wesley explained. We're really warming up to that idea too; it minimizes maintenance and time and materials required. Plus, it's easy to change down the road to a completely different color.
Wesley says he hit all his goals too; the family loves it, it's been extremely reliable so far, and he surprised everyone at MCOTY with a Second-place finish in the autocross.

We'll never tire of stories about hot rodders hanging onto their first cars despite what life throws their way, then revisiting them years later to rebuild them as the car they always wished it could have been. This slick silver 1977 Trans Am was Travis Hartwell's very first car, and by his own admission he was quite hard on it through his years of high school driving. But weren't we all?

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When it came time to go off to college, the TA went into storage as Hartwell moved forward and worked on building his future. About 10 years later when life had become more stable again, he pulled the TA out and began a very long, slow restoration on it. Hartwell wanted to keep the vintage 1970s feel of the TA, but class it up with more of a modern flair. Hartwell kept the body stock, but opted for a clean silver that was a special order Mazda Miata color and paired it with a slightly darker shade to create the hood bird. The final effect is a ghost image of the bird that is one of the best modernizations of that iconic logo that we've ever seen.

Stock performance was pretty lackluster in 1977 on all fronts. To make the TA more capable of running with modern muscle, Hartwell enlisted Schumaker Performance in Greenwood, Illinois, to build a stout, but easily driveable, 540hp 468ci Pontiac. Hartwell wanted to return to the days of driving his TA hard, but with more of an emphasis on corner carving, so chassis and suspension wise he looked to Pro Touring F-Body for their competition-level bolt-on springs, control arms, and chassis bracing. With so much more potential on hand, Hartwell began autocrossing it. He keeps it a family activity as much as possible though; "The way the car sits now I can pile my family in and go to shows with my wife and two kids in car seats in the back, Hartwell told us. "Then we unpack, beat on the car, and go home."

If we had a "Spirit of MCOTY" award to assign, Al Noe would definitely be the deserved winner. Noe (pronounced "noy") went through quite a lot both before and during the event to keep his homebuilt 1967 Camaro in the running, all while keeping a positive attitude and a smile on his face.

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The Camaro is no newcomer to the Noe family; it's been with them for almost two decades with the first build coming together about 15 years ago. In that time it's racked up thousands of miles of driving and family adventure, but recently Noe decided it was time to infuse some fresh power into the Camaro. It wasn't just for bragging rights though; Noe actually gets the Camaro out for regular autocross, drag race, and road course work. With dozens of outings per year, Noe's driving skills had grown to the point that he was ready for some more speed. To make it happen, and keep the driveability and reliability needed for those family outings, Noe turned to BluePrint Engines for a fuel-injected 427ci LS engine packing 625 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque. Noe handled the swap at home in his garage and got everything together and running just in time to hop in and drive it down to National Trail Raceway to make good on his MCOTY invitation.

The combo performed flawlessly on the way down, but typical teething problems on a new driveline combo popped up several times during MCOTY, keeping Noe in the pits more than he would have liked. At one point, with the Camaro on jackstands and only one autocross run recorded, we feared he might not be able to get his required three runs in for an official time. However, with the help of fellow MCOTY competitors, Noe got the Camaro running again with just minutes left on the event clock and ripped off two hot laps. Still smiling, of course. Noe said he'd like to make sure that his family/crew gets special thanks: Lisa, Allie, Daniel, and Michael, and Dale Ollie, Brian Craig, Todd Rumpke, and Danny Popp for their tools and help in the pre-autocross thrash!

Father-and-son projects are great ways to bond, and sometimes great ways to build a new business. For Paul VanNus and his dad, it was a natural continuation of their passion for building muscle cars. Perhaps best known for their involvement with Mark Stielow's Red Devil 1969 Camaro and Mayhem 1967 Camaro, Pro Touring F-bodies have been a staple of the Dutchboys growing business, however, it all really started with the younger VanNus wanting something a little more out-of-the-box for his own project.

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VanNus had always wanted a Chevy II as a kid, so now that he was older and had the money and ability to get started, it was time to find one. He had been getting into the Pro Touring revolution and decided that was the direction he really wanted to go with the car. In years past, that would have been a difficult proposal at best without a lot of custom-fabricated parts, since Chevy IIs are known for having a front suspension geometry that isn't cornering friendly in stock configuration. Couple that with very little room for wide wheels and tires, and building a Pro Tourer becomes daunting.

Nowadays there are some good bolt-on parts that help the geometry situation, but to really get them to the level VanNus wanted required starting from scratch. Detroit Speed & Engineering answered the call a couple years ago with their Chevy II front clip that not only provided a new suspension based on their first-gen Camaro parts, but rack-and-pinion steering and framerails that allowed wide rolling stock under the factory sheetmetal. That package combined with DSE's QaudraLink rear suspension and mini-tubs for more tire has been the key to the emergence of serious performing Chevy IIs on the Pro Touring scene, and it was exactly how VanNus could create the car of his dreams. The build took about three years and provided the perfect showcase to help get Dutchboys Hot Rods on its feet. You really couldn't ask for more from a father-and-son project.

Everyone loves a well-done sleeper, and Dan Ballard's 1972 Nova is basically an education in how to do it right in the Pro Touring genre. Step one: Find a superclean, unmolested stock muscle car. Step two: Modify it subtly, leaving the original charm intact. Sounds simple, right? It is, but doing it right requires restraint.
Ballard was originally more into the custom truck and mini-truck work at his shop, until he attended a Goodguys event with a customer and his pickup and met some of the contestants. The camaraderie and excitement hooked him, and he knew it was time to build something ready to corner. As soon as he got home, he sold his S-10 project and began looking for a clean Nova. When an immaculate original-paint 1972 popped up for a mere $3,500, he pounced. The car had a 355 and few suspension parts, but Ballard hated the way it drove, so within a week he was tearing into it. The plan was to just bolt on a few parts and run it as-is, so with a smattering of Detroit Speed & Engineering and RideTech parts he hit the autocross.

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When the 355 blew shortly thereafter, Ballard decided to keep it simple and just build a small-block better prepared for the task, and get a touch more aggressive with the suspension. Still mostly bolt-in, the suspension got the full RideTech treatment, but a set of DSE mini-tubs were spliced in to make room for wide Forgeline wheels. "It's really just a fun car that anyone could bolt together slowly," Ballard said. "You don't have to spend $15K on suspension to go out and have fun, you can spend $5K and get out there with everyone."

Eventually, after more autocrossing, the only thing not touched is the body and paint, and some of the interior, and Ballard plans to leave it that way as long as possible. He has built high-end cars for customers, but Ballard wants to keep this Nova a very low-maintenance ride—one he doesn't have to fret over scratches and paint chips from track and daily driving.

Not only did we have two Mopars at the 2013 MCOTY competition, we had two offbeat cars that you never see on autocross courses. Though there are plenty of Dusters out there, pretty much all of them are built with quarter-mile runs in mind. Eric Wracker's is the first we've seen built with a full-on handling mentality.

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Wracker bought the car back in 2004 on eBay and got a solid deal. The Duster came with the ever-popular 380hp, 360ci Mopar Performance crate engine already installed, as well as a 727 auto, and a built 8.75-inch rearend with 3.73 gears and an Eaton Truetrac diff. The body had a little under 100K miles on it. All in all, a great Mopar project to start on.

After the Pro Touring movement started to really take off, Wracker decided it would be fun to take the Duster in that direction. He had already been autocrossing another car in SCCA for a few years, so he had a decent idea of what needed to be done. Historically very little was available for Mopar enthusiasts who wanted to take their cars beyond what the factory parts could handle, but luckily for Wracker, Reilly Motorsports (RMS) had recently debuted their AlterKation bolt-in system for Mopars that offered a complete and total upgrade to SLA suspension and coilovers. Combined with the RMS Street-Lynx four-link rear, Wracker had a real contender on his hands. Out at MCOTY, Wracker and the Duster were strong on the autocross, raising a few eyebrows, in spite of having much harder 300 treadwear tires. "I've never seen a Duster corner like that," was overheard.

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Wracker really enjoys that reaction, especially when it comes from the over-represented F-body crowd. "The goal is to smoke as many cookie-cutter Camaros as I can," Wracker told us. "There are more upgrades to come!"

Deb McGilton loved riding along with her husband, Tim, at autocross and track events, but when he asked one day if she was having a good time, she replied, "Yes, but I'd be having more fun if I had my own."

That comment made an impression with Tim, and he began looking around for possible candidates without letting on what he was up to. When this 1969 Camaro showed up for sale, Tim showed it to Deb, just to test the waters. Deb casually stated that she'd love to have it. The subject was dropped for a while thereafter until Tim called Deb one day while she was away on business and dropped the bombshell that he was going to sell two of his Camaros. Surprised, she asked, "Why?" "To buy that car for you," he replied.

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The '69 was pretty much already done with a full DSE suspension and subframe and QuadraLink in the rear, but it was more of a pretty street car than a racer and it required some work to the brakes and a power steering cooler to be ready. And unfortunately, the engine wasn't quite ready for sustained high-rpm use, and after one of the first events, Deb found metal in the oil, so the engine had to be pulled and gone through.

Now the Camaro is in battle-ready shape, and it's Deb who's getting herself more and more tailored to the track. She had little autocross background, and MCOTY was only the second time she has ever drag raced, but she's now getting much more serious with it. Along with her husband's advice, she's been getting tutelage from experienced racers like DSE's Kyle Tucker and fellow 2013 MCOTY competitor Danny Popp. She's an apt pupil and learning quite quickly since she and the Camaro sit quite well against a lot of experienced drivers at MCOTY.

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Deb said it's a toss-up as to whether she likes autocross or road course better, but she plans to give herself plenty of chances to make up her mind by trying to hit as many events as possible. "Tim once joked, ‘You know, you could have a really nice diamond for what that car cost.'" Deb told him, "That's OK, I'm having more fun with the car."

Saving severely neglected vintage cars is fun, even more so if you can turn it into a family bonding experience. This verdant drop-top 1968 Camaro started from the very beginning as a family project among Mark Pecikonis, his wife, and two sons. Purchased from a coworker of Pecikonis, the Camaro was a total basket case in need of everything. That actually worked just fine for Pecikonis since the plan was to create a 21st century 1968 Camaro using all the latest technology. Growing up in Detroit and Southern California definitely influenced the theme: soft top for sunny day cruising, and Detroit Speed & Engineering parts underneath for handling prowess.

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The convertible's body was pretty rough, to say the least, with lots of metal surgery needed. To get to all the cancer, it was placed on a rotisserie at Yoke's Body Shop to have the floors, trunk floor, wheeltubs, quarters, fenders, hood, trunk, and doorskins replaced. Yeah, that's most of the car. While it was living at Yoke's, Pecikonis' sons were able to get involved in the body repair and prep before paint, and the whole family voted on the Viper Snake Skin Green and custom charcoal paints.

Once the Camaro was again a solid piece of GM muscle, it returned home to Pecikonis' garage for reassembly. That's where a lot of quality family wrenching time occurred, and another "generation" of the Pecikonis family joined the project: Mark's father's tools from his days at the GM Tech Center in the 1950s and 1960s, which were employed in putting the Camaro back together. Pecikonis' wife is an interior designer, so she helped plan out he luxurious tan leather interior.

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So far the Camaro has attended the Detroit Autorama and helped Pecikonis scratch an item off his bucket list, and now it has competed in a very exclusive muscle car competition where it performed remarkably well.

From the outset, Craig Johnson's goal with this 1969 Camaro was twofold: to build a car that was greater than the sum of its parts, and to build a really solid car that he could hand down to his son one day, something that would last a lifetime. We think he hit both goals spot-on.

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Johnson wanted to keep the appearance and styling of the 1969 very stock, but just refine it here and there to suit his taste. It needed to look good at the local show, but more important was making sure it could perform admirably on the autocross and at the track. Like most of us, Johnson's budget for the build had to be carefully planned since he doesn't have any sponsor backing, and his Camaro isn't the test car for any new products. It's just him and his garage. That's why Johnson affectionately refers to the Camaro as "the underdog." It's been working out pretty well for Johnson, though, since his Camaro stands well against much more expensive builds. He impressed us enough to get a MCOTY invitation, after all.

We really like when DIY guys can stand on the same plane as the pros, and even more so when they outdo them. Johnson was one of the readers who answered our call-out for potential competitors in MCOTY back in the spring, and we chose him for his strong DIY ethic, but when we spotted Johnson and his Camaro in the pits at the Goodguys Columbus autocross we were doubly impressed with it's striking Mercedes-Benz silver and blue paint (applied by Johnson himself), which stuck out from the field. Out on the course, Johnson's willingness to drive the Camaro to the limit of his ability was apparent too. We knew he was a worthy MCOTY contender.

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Out at National Trail Raceway he didn't disappoint us; Johnson ran hard in all events, even besting some guys on the dragstrip and speed-stop that on paper should have been faster. But that's just what underdogs do—surprise you with how much can be accomplished with less than the rest.

Herb Stuart actually bought this 1968 Cougar for his son as a high school graduation present. Together they installed new interior and suspension components and Stuart's son drove it during his college undergrad years. However, the fun ended when he was driving it to work one morning and the engine dropped a valve causing catastrophic damage. Rather than rebuild it, Stuart and his wife, Johanne, found another vehicle for their son, and when he went away to grad school, Stuart kept the Cougar.

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The garage restoration (without a solid plan) started in 2000 when Stuart bought a rotisserie and new Rod & Custom Motorsports Mustang II–style front suspension with rack-and-pinion steering. Originally the thought was that the Cougar would be a good learning experience for Stuart that he could apply to building their 1969 Shelby GT500 and Model A coupe, however, a certain engine changed all that.

"My wife said, ‘someone dangled a Cobra engine in front of my face,' and that's when I decided to go with a full OBD-II engine management system from The Detail Zone, which allowed full retention of the HVAC system," Stuart told us.

Seven years later in 2007, Stuart and his wife took their first drive in the Cougar all the way to Canada to attend the Northwoods Region Shelby Club track event. After some track time, Stuart was hooked. "It's been on a steady diet of 93 octane and Wilwood brake pads at various road course events since," Stuart says proudly.

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His participation in events raised his skill level, and combined with the uniqueness factor of being a track-ready Cougar, Stuart received an invite to the 2012 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI) where he got to go up against some of the best cars in the country. Now he can add PHR's Muscle Car of the Year to that list of accolades.

We chose Stuart's Cougar as our favorite for a variety of reasons. We'll start with the fact that his Cougar was the only FoMoCo product in the show. Were the Ford guys afraid of all the Chevys? Who knows—Stuart was the only one to throw his hat in the ring. Secondly, we've got a soft spot in our heart for old Cougars, and this one was a perfect homebuilt effort. Moreover, Stuart's cat was absolutely problem-free and well-sorted as a track car, yet was docile enough to drive anywhere. We also dig Stuart's great attitude in the face of far more powerful cars.